568 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



t 



districts, who depend principally upon it for subsistence during the summer. It makes 

 its first appearance in flocks of twenty or thirty, which are readily decoyed within gun- 

 shot by the hunters, who set up stalls, and imitate its call. Two or three, or more, are 

 so frequently killed at a shot, that the usual price of a goose is a single charge of 

 ammunition. One goose, which, when fat, weighs about nine pounds, is the dailj' ration 

 for one of the company's servants during the season, and is reckoned equivalent to two 

 snow-geese,* or three ducks, or eight pounds of buffalo and morse-meat, or two pounds of 

 pemmican, or a pint of maize and four ounces of suet. About three weeks after their 

 first appearance, the Canada geese disperse in pairs throughout the country, between the 

 56th and G7th parallels, to breed, retiring at the same time from the shores 'of 

 Hudson's Bay. They are seldom or never seen on the coasts of the Arctic Sea. In 

 July, after the young birds are hatched, the parents moult, and vast numbers are killed 

 in the rivers and small lakes when they are unable to Hy. When chased by a canoe, and 

 obliged to dive frequently, they soon become fatigued, and make for the shore with the 

 intention of hiding themselves ; but as they are not fleet, they fall an easy prey to their 

 pursuers. In the autumn they again assemble in flocks on the shores of Hudson's Bay 

 for three weeks or a month previous to their departure southwards. 



" It has been observed, that in their migrations the geese annually resort to certain 

 passes and resting-places, some of which are frequented both in the spring and autumn, 

 and others only in the spring. The Canada goose generally builds its nest on the 

 ground ; but some pairs occasionally breed on the banks of the Saskatchewan in trees, 

 depositing their eggs in the deserted nests of ravens or fishing eagles. Its call is 

 imitated by a prolonged nasal pronunciation of the syllable iroo/,- frequently repeated." 



THE WILD GOOSE. t 



This bird, sometimes called " the gray lag," is the origin of our domestic goose. 

 According to Pennant, it is the only species that the Britons could take young and 

 familiarise. It is the bird that saved the Capitol by its vigilance, and was cherished 

 accordingly. Pliny speaks fully of it, states how these geese were driven from a distance 

 on foot to Rome, mentions the value of their feathers, and relates that, in some places, 

 they were plucked twice a j'ear. 



Pennant thus writes : "This is our largest species; the heaviest weigh ten pounds; 

 the length is two feet nine inches ; the extent five feet. The bill is large and elevated, 

 of a flesh-colour tinged with yellow ; the head and neck cinereous, mixed with ochraceous 

 yellow ; the hind part of the neck very pale, and at the base of a yellowish brown ; the 

 breast and belly whitish, clouded with gray or ash colour ; the back gray ; the lesser 

 coverts of the wings almost white, the naiddle row deep cinereous slightly edged with 

 white ; the coverts of the tail and the vent-feathers of a pure white ; the mid<llc 

 feathers of the tail dusky, tipped with white, the exterior feathers almost white ; the legs 

 of a flesh-colour." 



The wild goose greatly varies, like most domesticated animals, in its reclaimed state ; 

 but it is said always to retain the whiteness of the coverts of the tail and the vent- 

 feathers ; it is esteemed in proportion to (he whiteness of the plumage. 



"The gray lag," says Mr. Gould," is known to inhabit all tlie extensive marshy 

 districts throughout the temperate portions of Europe generally ; its range nortli wards 

 not extending further than the fifty-third degree of latitude, while .soutliwards it 

 extends to the northern portions of Africa, easterly to Persia, and we believe it is 

 generally dispersed over Asia Elinor." 



This bird assembles in flocks, and seeks the most open and wild districts, often 



• Aims Nivalis. t ^^'i"*- Aiiscr.— I.iini. 



